Review: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 digital camera

Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FS25 is a compact travel-sized camera that was released at the beginning of this year. It has a 12MP sensor, 5x optical zoom, and a 3-inch LCD, making it competitive with upper-tier point-and-shoot modes from companies like Canon, Nikon, and Sony. A current street price of about $200 makes it an attractive purchase for anyone that is looking to pick up a camera like it, including the many people who have heard good things about Panasonic’s other cameras).

Featuring a 29mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens and a Panasonic FS label, this is the camera for people who want something more than the typical point-and-shoot, but also demand something that is pocketable. The large LCD stands out and looks very nice, though all the controls are on its left, not integrated into it, as we have seen on some cameras. Build quality was clearly a priority as the FS25 has an attractive brushed metal front and a lot of gunmetal components. It’s a nice looking gadget, perfect for pulling out at a family party or weekend event. The camera has a very nice on/off switch, as opposed to a button, so you have a firm click that lets you know whether it’s powered on or not.

The controls on the FS25 are standard fare, save for some slight changes that Panasonic threw in. The most noticeable (aside from the lack of touch on the large 3-inch screen) is the 4-way controller (a joystick of sorts) that is used to adjust the most frequently changed settings (macro, flash, exposure, and timer). Rather than being a d-pad this is a slider which is easy enough to use, but a bit strange at first. It cannot be pressed, so the Menu button above it is used as the fifth (Enter) button. The camera gives a prominent place to its Intelligent Auto feature, which is available both through a shortcut button on the top (next to the shutter button) and through the handy Mode button. These both let you quickly get to Intelligent Auto mode (with one press of the top or three clicks using the Mode menu). The Intelligent Auto is an good alternative to the Scene Mode (scenario-based shooting modes, as in “Night” or “Beach”) and it’s a reliable way to take good shots under varying conditions with no thought involved. Enthusiast shooters will only use it when feeling lazy, but casual users will find it useful when shooting under less than ideal conditions.

Photo quality should be a strong area for this 12MP digital camera, and for the most part it is. The camera suffers when there is either too much or too little light (over exposure was often a problem and low-light autofocus was rather slow), also its shot-to-shot time was frustratingly slow. Once you get past those issues though, the camera does well. Images are sharp with very nice details and good color accuracy. Macro shots came out well and the auto-bracketing feature comes in handy when multiple exposures are needed. Noise seemed like it could be a problem at a 12MP resolution but it was rarely an issue when it shouldn’t have cropped up.

Despite the strength Panasonic has displayed in video with some of its models, the DMC-FS25 is limited here. Standard digi-cam video is fine and looks nice enough, but zooming is not possible during recording and it does not do HD. Its size is probably a main reason for this, but some small cameras can do it, like the Samsung TL34HD.

The camera’s battery life is very good–it lasted for well over 300 12MP shots on a single charge.

Overall the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 is a well-constructed camera that is easy to use and takes solid pictures. It has some small problems, none too serious, and nothing that should deter the casual/vacation photographer. It’s small, yet packs in a 29mm wide angle lens and 5x zoom so there is some versatility as well, once again pushing is as a vacation shooter. At the original price of $249 the camera commanded a slight price premium over most of the competition but today it sells for about $199, making it a nice pickup for the money.